Microfluidics is an increasingly important technology that applies across a variety of disciplines including engineering, physics, chemistry, microtechnology and biotechnology. Microfluidics involves the study of small volumes of fluid and how to manipulate, control and use such small volumes of fluid in various microfluidic systems and devices such as microfluidic chips. For example, microfluidic biochips (referred to as “lab-on-chip”) are used in the field of molecular biology to integrate assay operations for purposes such as analyzing enzymes and DNA, detecting biochemical toxins and pathogens, diagnosing diseases, etc.
The beneficial use of many microfluidic systems depends in part on the ability to properly introduce fluids into microfluidic devices and to control the flow of fluids through the devices. In general, an inability to manage fluid introduction and flow in microfluidic devices on a micrometer scale limits their application outside of a laboratory setting where their usefulness in environmental and medical analysis is especially valuable. Prior methods of introducing and controlling fluid in microfluidic devices have included the use of external equipment and various types of pumps that are not micrometer in scale. These prior solutions have disadvantages related, for example, to their large size, their lack of versatility, and their complexity, all of which can limit the functionality of the microfluidic systems implementing such microfluidic devices.